Altered Alchemy – The Philosopher’s Stone, Only Not

Altered Alchemy is the third in a series of abstract mandalas I created late this past summer.

Like its predecessors, this 7″ circular design was drawn using several black Pigma pens on a 9″x12″ piece of watercolor paper that was trimmed to a 9″x9″ square.

On this image, I made it a point to create a very geometric “base” for the image, not only drawing the circle in pencil with a compass, but also used rulers and protractors to fit both a triangle and a square into the image as well.

The title, Altered Alchemy, came when the image was complete, and I wanted to see if this particular configuration of shapes actually coincided with anything symbolically. Turns out, it almost does. The configuration of a square inside a triangle inside a circle is an old alchemical symbol for the legendary “Philosopher’s Stone.” However, the main difference between that symbol and my design is the fact that the square is rotated 45 degrees and is smaller than it ought to be.

This image also shares a vague similarity to the warning symbol for “Radiation“. I wasn’t looking initially to recreate that particular symbol at first, but it somehow fits in the overall design.